Spring-clothespin



:(w. McKEEHA N.

SPRING CLOTHESPIN. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1916.

1,330,205. Patented Feb. 10,1920.

INV E N TOR fir zwsss: I

, .1 L t v I Q r ATTORNEY for that purpose. k I

In this specification and the annexed .ing end of the in for holding the artic e j in position on t UNITED s A'rEs PATENT orrrcnf 301m w. MOKEEHAN, or BERKELEY, cemronme.

srmNG-cLo'rnEsrm.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. MCKEEHA'N,'

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Berkeley, county of Alameda, State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Clothespins; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description of the same. I

This invention relates more particularly to push'clothes-pins, in which the jaws of pin are connected by a resilient element arranged and combined in such a manner that the clothes-pin can be pushed onto the line, avoiding the necessity for pinching it open I illustrate the invention in the drawing,

I consider the best, but it is to form that be understood that I do not limit myself to such form, because the said invention may be embodied inother forms, and it.is also tobe understoodthat in and by the claims following the description herein, I desire to cover the invention in whatever form itmay be embodied.

Referring of drawings! Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clothespin constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a modified form of the same. 7

Rig, 3 illustrates one manner of suspending an article to the line by attaching one end of the pin to the line and the other end. to the article.

' Fig.- 4 is a similar view illustratin a modi-. anner of using the pin, in w ieh two of the insare pushed over the line having the artlcle folded thereover, and a third pin in the center illustrating theuse of theaclam I e line by direct pressure. In structural detail the .clothes;p1ns illustrated in the drawingsinclude: two jaws 1-1 alikein construction havingitransverse ves therein and held in juxtaposition I with the grooves in reglstry by a clamping spring. The spring 0 amp omlng the opposed aws of theclothes-pin consists of a length of wireextending through the transverse openin 2 between the aws of the .cl0tl1es-pin, .t once at right angles .at the point 3 on opposite sidwof the jawsv 1, from which ,point a'true circle to form the scroll 4, the diam- Speci flcation 'ot Letters'ratent.

to the accompanying one sheet the: wire is bent preferably in Patented Feb. 10, 1920.-

acaw filed larch a, 1916. serial No. ensue.

eter of the scroll beingapproxiinately equal to the combined thickness of,the' jaws 1-1. The .extensions 5-5'extend'down the edges of the clothes-pin at a tangent to the circle of the scroll 4 to the bend 6, at which point the wire extends forward in the-extensions 7-7 on opposite sides of the clothespin to the bend 8, at which point they are bent at a right angle to the extensions 7, the terminals 9-9 Within the 'grooves provided therefor across the jaws. The extensions 9-9 lie parallel on opposite sides of the jaws 1-1 confined therebetween. The jaws 1-1 are held in lateral alinemert in juxtaposition against the lateral oH-setting by the extensions 7-7 on 3 is preferably 'intermediate .the center of the length of the jaws and one of their ends and closer to: the

sions 9-9 of the clamp engaging the jaws beyond the center of the length thereof The lower ends13-13 of theopposing jaws taper to the shoulders 14-14;1f0rming the lower extremity of. the opening 10 tapering upward to the point of conjunction from which point the inner faces. of the jaws 1-1 lie in contact up to the opening 2. Theo encenterof the length of'the pin; the extenings 2 and Y11 are joined by the slot 6 w ich allows a certain freedom to'the cross bar of the clamp in the slot 2 allowing for variations inthe# length of the clampv between the cross bai' 2 and the ends 99: the inner faces of the opposing jaws lie in contact" a at the point 17 between the openings Hand 12, From the pered. outwardly The long taper 13 to 14 permit this end of the pin to'be pushed over the line to be hung without the necessity of pinching the. jaws at This is a substantial advantage as the user, particularly if it be a woman,vhas more power to ash the p spread it of the pa nary t matica y illness of material to be confined therebetween. against the-tension of the spring *member,

ar disadvantages of the ordiof clamp pin. The jaws autoopening 12' the jaws are ta-,

y fiinchmg the ends, curing one 1c opening the pin at :the ends 13-13' of the opposed jaws from I on which the article is i the ends 18-18 to open the pin in over the line than to spread to accommodate any thickthe jaws fulcrum at the'point manner of using the pin, consisting in attaching it to the upper edge of the article X, which may be very conveniently done while the article isstill in the basket or in convenient reach, and pushing the opposite end 18 upward until the line engages the transverse opening 12 or 11. The opening 12 is intended to engage the ordinary woven clothes-line, or rope. and the opening 11 which is smaller is adapted to engage wire or smaller metal clothes-lines. X is thus suspended without touching the line X that is apt to be soiled or subject to rust and other conditions liable to soil the article X.

, In Fig. 4 a modified manner of using the clothes-pin is illustrated, in which the article X is folded over the line X and held in position by the jaws of the clothes-pins X and inserted thereover from the ends 1313 as is common to all the conventional forms of wooden clothes-pins.

The'c'enter pin X 'is shown in'the reverse position with the end 18 clamped over the article and the line, this end of thepin can be pushed over the line, or the opposing jaws may be sprung open by pressure applied at the ends 13-13, the jaws opening from the fulcrum-at 14. The pin thus applied is very effective but not so easily 0perated.

The modified .;form of clothes-pin shown in Fig. 2 is'similar. in every respect to that illustrated ineFi 1, except that the upper end is cut off a ove the'point 17, leaving the blunt ends 1919, byreason of which the pin can be very comfortably pushed over the edge of the'fabricwhen used as illustrated in'Fig. 3 or as at X, X in Fig. 4. In this modified form the ,line X engages the hole 20 between the opposed jaws 2121.

A double-ended push-pin, or reversed; and used as a clamp ger of soiling irom this source.

The. spring member may be made in variety of shapes, that preferred by me being illustrated, in which the extensions 7 Patent is:

The article 1 in made abcording to this invention is a apted to be used as a cross over at substantially a right an le to the length of the pin, preventing the c othe's or line from being forced'bet.ween the jaws be 0nd the bars 7.

avin thus described this invention, what I c aim and desire to secure by Letters -1. A double ended clothes-pin including two parallel jaws having both ends tapering" hind said entrances, and a single resllient metallic joinin member havinga relatively straight or un nt portion passing trans- ,versely between said jaws and having.oppo-' sitely disposed ends clamping said aws therebetween.

2. A double ended clothes pin including a pair of jaws provided with means at'their opposite ends for manually operating the pin, a single resilient joining member en'- gaging said jaws, fulcrums on said jaws at opposite sides of said oining member, one of said fulcrums being farther away from the center of the pin than the other and being so disposed with respect to the joining member that the resilient tension between,

the jaws is greaterat one end of the pin than ,at the other. 7

3. A double ended clothes pin comprising two co-acting rigid members ada ted to normally contact with each other ad acent their opposite ends, said contacting portions forming fulcrums adjacent the opposite ends'of the pin, a single resilient member engaging said members "and disposed between said fulcrums and-diverging portions on both ends of said members beyond the fulcrums whereby inward pressure on either pair of diverging portions will'.cause'th'e rigid members to rock on the adjacent fula crum and'cause the contacting portionsat the other end of the pin to separate;

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this 25th day of February 1916. i

, JOHN wfMcnennAn.

In presence of-' o Bonner M. SMITH, Y BALDWIN Vega. 

